Bud Goodman, a friend to youth

Bud's Story:

Picture if you will a 9 year old boy who wants to join 4-H and take a steer project.  His dad had been in 4-H as a teenager but had never taken a beef project.  Now picture the boy's mother, raised in a large metropolitan area but loving the country life.  The boy joins a local 4-H club and the family's long educational experience begins. This boy (our son) was the kid who showed up at the county fair without his steer even being clipped to show. To say we were embarrassed is putting it mildly.  Our advisors had not held any grooming demonstration that year nor had they given our son any instructions regarding showmanship or preparing the steer for the show ring.  Fortunately, the breeder who sold us the steer was also exhibiting cattle at the fair that year and saved the day by clipping the calf and briefly instructing our son in the basics of showmanship.  The steer was a pleasant individual and was accustomed to our son leading, brushing and bathing him so he behaved well in the ring and was placed third in his class.  After that experience we started asking questions about preparations necessary for the show ring.  As many of you know from personal experience, local people are reluctant to offer anything more than the very basic information.  So our family started attending other county fairs watching at the grooming chutes and talking to groomers and judges.  We contacted out-of-state breeders who willingly gave us information and tips and eventually attended a four day grooming clinic in Texas.  For several years we were advisors for a local 4-H club and tried to share what knowledge we had with all the members.  Even after we gave up the advisorship of the club to some of the former members Bud continued to offer assistance to anyone who asked.  Every year Bud would go to our county fair and be on the lookout for that kid who needed extra help with his beef project and would offer assistance and advice.  After our kids left home, when we attended other county fairs he would do the same thing.  He would willingly help the kids all through the next year's project if they asked him.  He could work a 10 hour day on a construction site, come home, shower, grab a quick bite to eat and still have the endurance to go to some youngster's home and spend time at the barn with them and their beef project animal.  He loved kids and valued the time he spent with them.  Bud was a hard working, humble man who actually thought the only thing he had to offer youth was what knowledge he had about feeding and grooming cattle when actually he was giving life lessons in the value of hard work, honesty, perseverance, good sportsmanship and friendship.  He didn't realize how much those kids loved him and appreciated his time and patience.  He was their friend and confidante, as well as their cheerleader.

We lost Bud in 2002 as the result of a job-site accident and our loss was shared by many.  In fact, when the family had visiting hours at the funeral home, people stood in line for as long as four hours just to get to the family and extend their condolences and share a memory of their time with Bud.  In his obituary, we asked that people donate to a fund (The Bud Goodman Memorial Youth Fund) in lieu of flowers.  We hoped the donations would be enough to help at least one child with a beef project the following year, maybe with feed or equipment needed.  The out pouring of donations was large enough that we decided to offer free beef exhibitor clinics annually for at least a year or two. We asked the Fairfield County Foundation to oversee and administer the fund, making future donations tax deductible and giving assurance to donors that their donations were truly benefiting youth.    Since 2002 the fund has continued to grow due to donations from 4-H beef exhibitors and their families and dividends earned from Fairfield Foundation investments, making the free exhibitors' clinics possible.  In 2010 the family decided to offer a college scholarship to livestock exhibitors in Fairfield County.  These scholarships are awarded through Fairfield Foundation's scholarship application process.

This in a nutshell tells it all.  Bud was a great guy, a faithful husband, a loving father and grandfather.  He didn't envy status or covet what anyone else had, but was comfortable with who he was and what he had earned in life.  He was truly one of the "good guys".  He would NOT be happy with the hoop-la we've created in his memory but would certainly be happy to see the information we share at these clinics, free of charge.